USPSTF guidelines require screening children up to 8 years of age for anxiety: Shot

Regularly screening for anxiety in the doctor’s office is one way to help children before the problem worsens.

Vladimir Vladimir Putin / Vladimir Vladimir Putin / Getty Images

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Vladimir Vladimir Putin / Vladimir Vladimir Putin / Getty Images

Regularly screening for anxiety in the doctor’s office is one way to help children before the problem worsens.

Vladimir Vladimir Putin / Vladimir Vladimir Putin / Getty Images

An influential panel of experts says all children are 8-18 years old Anxiety should be screened regularly.. This draft recommendation by the US Preventive Medicine Committee comes out when children’s mental health problems are escalating and overwhelming the healthcare system.

The Task Force also recommends that children over the age of 12 continue to be screened for depression. This is a recommendation that has been in place since 2016.

Screening is usually done by primary care physicians using standardized questionnaires answered by parents and children according to age.

“We were already witnessing anxiety, depression, and suicidal behavior and rising youth suicide rates,” he said. Martha KubicProfessor of Nursing at George Mason University and a member of the Task Force.

The goal of screening is to help doctors and other healthcare providers identify children at risk early in the path of the disease so that they can be treated before their symptoms worsen.

Children and adolescent mental health professionals welcome the recommendations.

Most mental illnesses are becoming more and more apparent in childhood and adolescence, he says. Dr. Jennifer HavensChairman of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Grossman School of Medicine.

However, anxiety disorders, one of the most common mental illnesses among children, can remain undetected for long periods of time.

“It may be quiet. Worried children are often very self-conscious and do not necessarily intend to share this with their families or doctors. Therefore, screening is a very very good idea.”

Most cases of anxiety in children can be treated with psychotherapy, she adds. Only children with severe anxiety need medication. Therefore, the earlier the child is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat, she says.

Recommendations state that children with anxiety disorders are at increased risk of anxiety disorders and depression in adulthood, as well as related risks such as substance abuse.

Pediatricians have long recognized the need for screening, says dr Sandy Chung, President-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Over the years, more and more patients are suffering from a variety of mental health symptoms. They have grown to an amazing number during the pandemic.

“We are really in a mental health crisis,” she adds.

In the fall of 2021, the AAP, along with the American Society for Youth and Child Psychology and the Children’s Hospital Association, issued a statement calling for the mental health of children. National emergency..

The AAP has already recommended screening teens for emotional and behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression, and many pediatricians have already screened patients for anxiety and depression, Chung said. He adds.

“Thanks to the Task Force for making the recommendations, but in reality, many pediatricians are already working on it. [already]”She says.

Many of those pediatricians are connected to psychiatrists and psychologists over the phone through what is called a mental health access program, Chung adds. Virginia Mental Health Access Program..

Some pediatric clinics that screen for mental health can provide follow-up care through an in-house provider. for example, Montefiore Medical CenterScreens about 86,000 children each year for emotional and behavioral problems.

“The primary care practice in which children see a pediatrician has already screened for childhood anxiety, depression, and attention issues that actually begin when they are four years old,” he said. .. Miguelina GermanA pediatric psychologist at the center, and behavioral care providers like herself are integrated into the practice.

Anyone who has a positive screening will be referred to a German or one of her behavioral problem co-workers.

Also, the younger a child is screened for a positive mental health problem, the easier it is for her and her colleagues to treat them. This is because mental health problems worsen with age if left untreated.

“If there’s a 15-year-old who I’m worried about, she’s very likely to be depressed,” says the German. “But when she was 10 when she was 15, for example, when she was 10, she had social anxiety. She had a hard time making her friends.”

She also says that if a provider treats a child’s problems when the child is young when symptoms begin to appear, it often requires fewer sessions than treating more complex problems in older children. ..

That is why we hope that this model, which universally screens for mental health symptoms and integrates mental health care into pediatrician clinics, will become the national standard of care.

The panel also investigated the evidence behind suicide screening and found insufficient evidence to support the idea.

But that decision bothers him. Christine You Mutie, Chief Medical Officer of the American Suicide Prevention Foundation.

“It’s a big concern for us that the Task Force hasn’t looked at the latest data that actually shows that suicide risk screening can be done effectively and safely,” says Mutie.

According to more than six recent studies, asking children if they have ever considered hurting themselves really helps to open a safe place for children to talk about their pain. Is shown.

“We know that many young people thinking of suicide don’t tell anyone,” she says. “So we need to screen.”

Recently released AAP and AFSP Blueprint to prevent youth suicideIt is recommended to screen for adolescent suicide.

The draft recommendation is open for public comment until May 9, and the final recommendation is likely to be published by the end of 2022, Kubik said.

Mutie hopes that the final advice will also include recommendations for screening children for suicide.